Shoulder building apparatus



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acorporafiyonofnelaware ABSTRACT: Disclosed herein is a road shoulder paving device used in combination with a wheeled power-driven vehicle provided with an augered screw-type conveyor. The

device, detachably mounted on the side of a vehicle as described and rearwardly of the conveyor comprises a hydraulically controlled extendable or retractable scraper blade slidably sectioned for longitudinal adjustment during operation. The device also includes a hydraulically controlled telescoping rod for varying the pitch of the strike-off screed and thus the slope of the road shoulder during operation. The device further includes a forwardly extending scraper plate attached to the outer end of the scraper blade for controlling the L e M u o h S d a O I e h t f O h i M W 686 6 MM M 494 M4 9 4 9 c 9 4 09 E [5 4] SHOULDER BUILDING APPARATUS 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

51 Int. [50] Field ofSearch..........................................

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,953,977 9/1960 Warren.................. 3,015,258 1/1962 Apel Patented Nov. 24, 1970 3,541,934

INVENTO/PS IVE/L E. BUPGQU/S 7' CARL 6. SCHEUR/V JESSE 7.' HUGHES 00M N MAFE/A Patented Nov. 24, 1970 INVENTORS NEIL E. BORGQU/ST CARL C. SCHEURIV JESSE 7f HUGHES DOM IV. MAFF/A Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Sheet F/ 7 INVENTORS I'VE/L E. BORGQU/ST CARL C. SCHE'UEW JESSE Z HUGHES 001% N MAI-FM SHOULDER BUILDING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to road paving and construction equipment. More specifically this invention relates to apparatus for building and paving road shoulders.

The road construction industry has long been in need of an apparatus for building and paving road shoulders which is economical to operate-easy to move from place to place, durable, and which forms high quality road shoulders in the sense of safety, appearance, and durability. Generally speaking, the construction industry, in an attempt to meet these characteristics, has designed various forms of strike-off screeds or, by another name, scraper blades, which extend outwardly from the side of a road construction vehicle to scrape and spread paving material delivered forwardly of the blades by various types of conveyor belt systems. Although these screeds have been found acceptable in building standard road shoulders they are relatively limited in use since they do not provide for automatic control of the paving width and/or shoulder grade.

While the industry has recognized the need to vary the width and grade (slope or pitch) of a road shoulder being formed and thus has sought means to achieve these ends, it has heretofore succeeded in only a limited way. Typically, means previously designed by the industry to provide varying shoulder widths have consisted of either swinging constant length strike-off screeds, replaceable sectioning of these screeds, or a combination of both of these means. In the first instance, only a limited amount of width control can be achieved, due primarily to the geometry of swinging a 3 to 4 foot strike-off screed about a point located on the side of a vehicle. In short, a shoulder is limited in maximum length by the static length of the screed. In the second instance, wherein the screed is detachably sectioned for mounting of various length sections, there is no theoretical limit to the variations in shoulder width which can be achieved. Such a solution finds definite practical limitations, however, in that shutdown of operations is required every time a different shoulder width is desired. Also to be considered is the limitation imposed by the need to make and carry a great number of different sections in order to provide for onjob contingencies which may arise. It is clearly seen that both limitations result in lost time and added expense. It is also clearly seen that a combination of a swinging, replaceably-sectioned screed adds little to the value of the above separate solutions since it carries with it the limitations of these separate solutions and thus merely compounds them.

The industry has also devised means for varying the grade, or by another name, slope of a road shoulder from the road to the earth. Generally, such devices have comprised chain linkages attached from the vehicle to the outer end of the strikeoff screed or manually adjustable screw devices for raising and lowering the end of the screed and thus changing the grade of a road shoulder. Devices of this nature, though acceptable either require excess cost in the nature of an additional operator or shutdown time, or they are inconvenient and difficult for a single operator to use during a paving operation.

From-the above discussion it can be seen that the road construction industry is in need of an apparatus which can pave road shoulders of varying widths and/or slopes automatically, economically, without shutdown of operations and with high quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a road shoulder building apparatus which can automatically and without shutdown of operations The unique road shoulder paving device contemplated by this invention basically includes a scraper blade or strike-off screed having at least two scraper sections, at least one of the sections being slidable, i.e. longitudinally adjustable, with respect to the other sections. The spreader also includes means for longitudinally adjusting these sections while the strike-off screed is in operation without shutting down or stopping the formation of road shoulders. In a preferred form the spreader also includes a guide plate or other guide means attached to the outer end of the scraper blade. This plate, which extends forwardly of and from the scraper blade, serves to control the width of the road shoulder being formed. In still another preferred form there is additionally provided an automatically controlled telescoping rod means attached to the scraper blade for varying the slope of a road shoulder.

When such a paving spreader is used in combination with a conveyor system attached to a power-driven wheeled vehicle, there is provided a device or apparatus which is capable of continuously and automatically forming paved road shoulders of high quality and widely differing widths and slopes. In addition, such a device is easily transported by merely detaching it from the side ofthe vehicle and carrying it thereon. As a furtherfeature, and because of the adjustable nature of the screed, replaceable plates are not necessary.

With reference then to a detailed description of the invention and its accompanying drawings hereinafter presented, the novel devices of this invention fulfill a long felt need in the road building industry.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a preferred form of road shoulder paving device as contemplated by this invention wherein the strike-off screed is illustrated in extended position.

FIG. 2 is a top plane view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the strike-off screed is shown in closed position.

FIG. 3 is a front plane view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of a preferred embodiment of an adjustable strike-off screed as contemplated by this invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the first section of the strike-off screed illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fractional front plane view of a slidable pipe attachment contemplated herein for attaching the front boom to the guide plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION INCLUDING PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings there is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 a preferred embodiment of a road shoulder paving device as contemplated by this invention. Power driven road construction vehicle 1 is provided with a paving material bin 2, a power and hydraulic plant 3 and an operators section generally represented at 4. Operators section 4 is provided with a seat 5, a steering wheel 6 and operator pedals 7. Paving material bin 2 may be provided with any conventional conveyor means to deliver paving material to the shoulder of a road, but in a preferred form as illustrated the conveyor means used is an augered screw-type conveyor 9 journaled to vehicle I by sup port structure 10.

Road construction vehicle I is conventional in the art. The particular type of vehicle shown in these drawings is illustrative only, it being clear that other well known types of road construction vehicles could also be used. Likewise, road construction vehicle 1, of whatever type chosen, may be powered by any conventional means. Preferably, however, vehicle 1 is powered by hydrostatic drive since such power provides a much smoother motion, control of alinement, and easily provides variable speeds.

In adapted form so as to accommodate the unique road shoulder paving device of this invention, road construction vehicle 1 is provided with hydraulic controls 8 of conventional design and connection, preferably located in operators section 4 or at least within easy reach of an operator when he is driving vehicle 1. As shown, an especially preferred location for controls 8 is adjacent to seat 5. Extending from controls 8 and connected thereto in conventional fashion are hydraulic lines A, B, C and D which run through the chassis of vehicle 1. Lines A, B, C and D extend to their respective positions as hereinafter more fully described. It is understood, of course, that lines A, B, C and D will be long enough so as to allow the road shoulder paving device of this invention to be fully extended or fully closed.

Also necessary to adapt vehicle 1 to accommodate the unique road shoulder paving device of this invention are forward or front boom 12 which is slidably adjustable in its housing 12, and rear boom 13. Rear boom 13 is slidably adjustable in its mounting 13 which is conveniently journaled to the chassis of vehicle 1 by any conventional means.

Referring now to FIGS. 14 there is illustrated a preferred form of unique road shoulder paving device as contemplated by this invention. Road shoulder paving device 15 basically comprises a strike-off screed 16 formed of three longitudinally adjustable sections 16A, 16B and 16C. Device 15 also includes hydraulically controlled telescoping rod means 17 and dual acting telescoping support rod means 18. Although any number of hydraulically controlled telescoping rod means 17 and dual acting telescoping support rod means 18 may be used, in practice it has been found most convenient to use a single hydraulically controlled rod 17 located between an upper and a lower support rod 18. Such a setup provides adequate rigidity and adjustability without unduly complicating the hydraulic controls 8 and conventional means connected therewith to effect hydraulic adjustment of the length of screed 16. In this respect, screed 16 has been illustrated as having three sections 16A, 16B and 16C. It is realized, of course, that such a screed could be provided with just two sections or four or more sections. In practice, however, three longitudinally adjustable sections have proved quite adequate to handle almost any onjob contingency which may arise and thus a three section screed as illustrated, is preferred.

In order to adequately provide for adjustment of the screed to a wide variety of lengths, sections 16A, 16B, and 16C are placed in slidable overlapping relationship with one another as illustrated. By attaching sections 18A of rods 18 only to section 16A of screed 16 by weld joints 19 and plate 21, in like fashion attaching sections 188 of rods 18 only to section 16B of screed 16, and sections 18C only to section 16C of screed 16, a setup is provided which allows for the adjustment of sections 16B and 16C individually with respect to section 16A. That is to say, in operation when telescoping hydraulic rod 17 .is actuated so as to extend screed 16 from a closed to an extended position, sections 18C of rods 18 extend until they reach the end of section 1813. This extends 16C to its fullest length. Since each section of dual-acting support rods 18 are provided with conventional internal stop and catch means (not shown) at their terminal portion, further actuation of hydraulic rod 17 when section 18C is fully extended, causes section 18C to pull section 18B outwardly from section 18A and thus elongates screed 16 even further by extending section 168 with respect to section 16A. In a similar manner the screed may be closed from this extended position. It is therefore seen that by manipulating controls 8 mounted on vehicle 1, an operator may during a paving operation adjust strike-off screed 16 to any desired length and thus meet different road shoulder width requirements without discontinuing the paving operation.

To the end of section 16C of strike-off screed 16 there is hingedly attached guide means 23. Guide means 23 serves to limit the outward flow of paving material issuing from angered screw conveyor 9 and thus insures a road shoulder paving of constant width and high quality. Although guide means 23 may be of any suitable size or form it is preferably a plate beveled at its lower end so that it does not strike the ground. As illustrated, guide plate 23 is hingedly attached to section 16C of strike-off screed 16 by means of a conventional pin hinge 24. From pin hinge 24, guide means 23 extends forwardly from screed 16 where at its forwardrnost end it is attached to boom 12.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, there is illustrated a preferred means for attaching boom 12 to guide plate 213. Such a means generally comprises a boom connecting tube 31, a clevis 3t hinge pin 34, eye plate 36 welded to slidable tube section 3?. which encases pipe 311 and allows it to slide longitudinally. A sliding device of this type wherein pipe 3% is attached to plate 23, is used to prevent binding of the boom 12 and guide plate 23 during operation of the shoulder paving device generally or during adjustment of screed 16.

Strike-off screed 16 is most conveniently attached to vehicle 1 by a detachable setup as best illustrated in FIGS. 1, 5, 2 and i. That is to say, section 16A of screed 16 is attached to hinge plate 10 by a single pin connection 32 of conventional design which allows screed 16 to be freely rotated about this point or pin. In hinge plate 40, there is provided retaining slot 49 which retains and guides retaining pin 63 located between and connected to bracket plates as. As will be more fully discussed hereinafter such a pin connection allows for the pitch or slope of a road shoulder to be adjusted during a paving operation. l-Iinge plate 40 as illustrated in FIG. 5- is hingedly connected by detachable hinge pin 14 to an inside guide plate 46. Plate 46 may be attached to the chassis of vehicle 1 in such a manner as to permit up and down adjustment thereof. In a preferred manner for achieving this function, plate 46' is attached to the chassis of vehicle 1 by a fulcrum pin 46A and retaining stud 468 as illustrated in FIG. 7. Such a combination may be of conventional construction such as where fulcrum pin 46A is attached by welding to the chassis of vehicle 1, plate 46 is attached to retaining stud 46B which passes through slot 17 cut in the frame of the chassis of vehicle 1. When handle 54 of screwjack 56 connected to vehicle 1 by support 581 is turned, plate 46' pivots about fulcrum pin 46A while retaining stud 46B moves in slot 4'? and thereby adjusts the height of strike-off screed 16. Such an adjustment, of course, sets the thickness of the paving material being spread and thus the thickness of the road shoulder so formed. With respect to this thickness control apparatus, it is clearly seen that such apparatus could readily be rendered automatic by a hydraulic setup such as that used to adjust screed 16. However, in practice it has been found that such an automatic ap paratus is not required since road shoulder thicknesses are generally constant and thus onjob contingencies rarely occur which can not be adequately handled by the manually operated mechanism as described.

It is further contemplated by this invention to provide the unique road shoulder paving device as above-described with a means by which the pitch, slope, or grade, (Le. the angle formed by the ground and the top of the paved shoulder extending toward the road) of a road shoulder may be varied or adjusted during the paving operation and without shutdown thereof. One preferred form which such a device may assume is best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. Between channel 22 at the end of screed section 16C and rearwardly of separator 29 there is provided a hydraulically controlled telescoping rod means 60. Rod means 60 is connected at its bottom end to channel 22 by brackets 61 and pin connections 62 which allow rod means 61) to rotate freely thereabout. Rod means so is connected at its top to slidable boom 13 by swivel bracket 64. Although rod means 61) may assume many forms it preferably comprises a support means 66, a clevis 63, a hydraulic cylinder provided with connecters '71 which attach to hydraulic lines A and B. Within hydraulic cylinder '70 there is slidably and rotatably journaled extender rod 72 which is attached in conventional fashion to screwjack 74 of known construction. Screwjack 74 is used in much the same manner as screwjack 56 in that it is used to initially set the height of section 16C from the ground in corresponding relationship to the height set by screwjack 56 in such a way as to render all slidable parts of the apparatus nonbinding and freely slidable. By actuating appropriate controls 8, rod 72 is hydraulically adjusted so as to cause screed 16 to rotate about pin connection 42 and thereby automatically vary or adjust the slope of a road shoulder during paving operations and without shutdown thereof.

As is readily apparent from an analysis of the above description, the operation of this apparatus is almost entirely automatic. For example, when building a road shoulder a truck carrying shoulder paving material backs into vehicle 1 and dumps the material into bin 2. Screwjacks 56 and 74 are than set in a manner as described and augered screw conveyor 9 is then started wherein it proceeds to deliver paving material forwardly of screed 16. Next, vehicle 1 is powered and driven forward along the outer edge of the road pavement such that the inwardmost edge of section 16A resides slightly above and overlaps the road pavement to thereby pave a road shoulder. Should it become necessary or desirable to vary the width of the road shoulder during this operation, the appropriate hydraulic controls 8 are actuated to send hydraulic fluid through hydraulic lines C and D connected to hydraulic rod 17 at connections 29 to thereby change the length of rod 17 which in turn causes dual acting rods 18 to change the length of screed 16. Hydraulic lines A and B and booms 12 and 13 are of sufficient length so as not to hinder this adjustment. Should it become necessary to change the slope of the road shoulder appropriate controls 8 are actuated to send fluid through hydraulic line A and B and thus cause hydraulic means 60 to extend or retract which in turn effects a rotation of screed 16 about pin 42. in this manner the outer end of screed section 16C is raised or lowered while the inner end of screed section 16A remains at a substantially constant height as fixed by screwjack 56, thus changing the slope of the shoulder being formed.

As can be seen, the above-described apparatus provides for the adjustment of road shoulder width simultaneously with or independently of the adjustment of road shoulder slope and vice versa. Such adjustment is accomplished through a unique screed, automatically controlled by hydraulic means without necessitating shutdown of operations in order to effect it. Once given the above description and drawings many other features, modifications and embodiments of this invention become obvious to one skilled in the art and thus are included within its scope.

We claim: v

1. In combination with a wheeled power driven vehicle, a

detachable road shoulder building device which comprises:

a screed having a plurality of screed sections in slidable overlapping relationship with one another and extending outwardly from the vehicle;

the innermost screed section hingedly attached to the vehicle for horizontal and vertical movement;

a shoulder guide means extending forwardly from the screed and pivotally attached to an outermost screed section for movement about a vertical axis;

upper and lower dual acting telescoping support rod means each having a plurality of sections with each section secured to the rear face of a corresponding screed section, said telescoping support rod sections having engaging stops whereby an extension force on the outer screed section causes the outermost screed sections to be extended in sequence as successive stops are engaged; and

telescoping hydraulically controlled rod means located between said dual acting means, said telescoping means being secured at one end to the innermost screed section and at its other end to the outermost screed section to effect hydraulic adjustment of the outward extension of the screed.

2. The combination of claim 1 including: a hydraulically controlled, vertical te escopmg rod means secured at one end to the outermost screed section; and

a slidable boom means secured to the vehicle and rotatably connected to the other end of said vertical telescoping rod means to adjust the longitudinal pitch of the screed.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which the innermost screed section is attached to the vehicle by:

vertically disposed hinge means extending from the vehicle and secured thereto; and

vertically disposed bracket means extending from the innermost screed section and secured thereto, said bracket means being connected to the hinge means to allow the screed to be raised and lowered in a vertical plane.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which the innermost screed section is hingedly connected to a plate member extending transversely of the screed, said plate member being secured to the vehicle by a pivot member having an axis parallel to the screed, whereby said screed may be raised and lowered by rotating the plate member about the pivot member.

5. The combination of claim ll including a slidably adjustable boom means extending outwardly from the vehicle and hinged at its outermost end to a forward extension of the shoulder guide means. 

